Dawn broke with a fish-belly white sky.
Yuan Yunzhong and Song Jiyun finally arrived at the foot of Shijingshan.
The refugee shacks, like protruding grass mounds, stood silently in the morning mist.
The council hall’s doors were tightly closed, with dim yellow light seeping out from beneath them.
The atmosphere was serene yet quiet.
Commander Wang felt goosebumps rise as he muttered to himself, "Something doesn’t feel right here!"
As he spoke, his eyes widened, and he grabbed Yuan Yunzhong, who was about to walk through the shacks towards the council hall, and said nervously, "I know what’s wrong. Why aren’t the patrolling colonels here? Could this be a trap?"
Yuan Yunzhong had already sensed that something was amiss. However, he was prepared to face danger head-on, knowing full well it might be lurking; the stakes had become too high to turn back now. Even if it was a trap, he had to take the risk and see it through.
But he could not disregard the safety of those around him, so he asked Lord Chen from the Canal Transport, "How far away are your men? How long will it take for them to get here?"
The guard station in charge of Canal Transport was part of the Imperial Court’s regular army. Even if they had scattered for fear of being caught undertaking private jobs, it would not be like private guards, each doing as they please.
The Canal Transport staff had agreed to take the risk and act upon seeing Song Jiyun’s generous hand and Yuan Yunzhong’s influential status. Despite their caution, they had reservations about possibly being outsmarted by Song Jiyun. Now that they saw Yuan Yunzhong, their worries dissipated. Not only did they tell him where their men were located, but they also said, "If these men aren’t enough, I can call for more reinforcements at short notice."
Calling for too many reinforcements could arouse suspicion of unauthorized troop mobilization.
The Canal Transport did not dare to call for too many, just as the Shang Twelfth Armies were cautious, not daring to offer too much support.
Otherwise, Yuan Yunzhong and his group would have been long dead.
"Thank you!" Yuan Yunzhong courteously replied, "The number of men is sufficient; we don’t even need them to engage directly. They can simply flank us and support from the side." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
This was the best possible outcome!
Lord Chen agreed to it immediately.
By the time he mobilized the men, the sky had gradually brightened.
The lights in the council hall, however, had not gone out.
Yuan Yunzhong and his party passed through the refugee shacks and pushed open the doors of the council hall.
Candles as thick as a child’s arm filled the council hall, brightly lighting it up.
Lord Bai was hanging dead from the hall’s crossbeam.
"How could this have happened?" exclaimed Commander Wang in shock.
The long desk in the council hall was covered with Xuan paper pressed down with paperweights, which rustled loudly as the wind swept in.
Upon closer inspection, Yuan Yunzhong and the others realized it was a suicide note.
It claimed that he was momentarily blinded by greed, had strayed from the righteous path, and thought that by killing Yuan Yunzhong and failing to recruit the refugees, they could massacre the fifty thousand refugees under the guise of putting down bandits and earn unparalleled glory. In short, he took all the blame upon himself.
The colonels he had brought with him had all been dispatched to ambush Yuan Yunzhong.
By the time Yuan Yunzhong read his suicide note, those colonels were probably already dead.
Commander Wang sighed upon reading it, "Had we known this day would come, why did we ever start this?"
However, Lord Chen asked, "Lord Yuan, does this count as a victory for us?"
Yuan Yunzhong nodded and said, "Lord Chen, thank you for your hard work!"
"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all!" Lord Chen took his leave from Yuan Yunzhong, "We’re just coarse folks, and Lord Yuan won’t have much use for us after this. We just hope that Lord Yuan remembers the kindness we’ve shown, and when the holidays come, if we send a letter to wish you well, we hope you’ll accept our greetings."
Yuan Yunzhong agreed, and Zheng Quan saw them out.
Song Jiyun, however, glanced several times at Lord Bai’s corpse.
Yuan Yunzhong hastily came over to cover her eyes and said, "Don’t look! Go and rest for a while. I’ll send you back to Capital City in the afternoon."
Song Jiyun turned around and indeed stopped looking at Lord Bai’s corpse, then asked curiously, "You can leave?"
"With such a major incident, there’s bound to be a lot of rumors. It’s best to return to the Capital and see the Emperor." He said, and glanced at Commander Wang, who was loudly instructing his subordinates to invite Lord Xiang and others over, and lowered his voice, "He’s a relative of the Empress Dowager."
Well! You don’t know how many officials there are until you get to the Capital.
She pursed her lips and smiled, about to speak, when suddenly there was a commotion outside, accompanied by the neighing of horses and the wailing of children.
It seemed like troops were arriving.
Both of them exchanged glances and quickly walked out side by side.
They saw that the entire foothill was awakened by the noise, with refugees crawling out of their shabby huts, some rubbing their bleary eyes, some consoling crying children, others looking around in bewilderment, all gazing toward a group of flamboyantly dressed colonels galloping toward the council hall.
"Yunzhong!" The elder leading the group dismounted, "Yunzhong! Are you alright? I’ve arrived too late!"
He looked refined and gentle, his face full of guilt.
It was actually Master Jinghu!
He had personally come over.
The people behind him immediately followed suit, dismounting and stepping forward quickly to support Master Jinghu, saying, "Take it easy, sir!" Then they urgently addressed Yuan Yunzhong, "Your great uncle realized that the Ministry of War’s warnings about the campaign in Goryeo might’ve been alarmist, possibly to claim undue credit, and realized you were in danger. He sent an imperial edict overnight and summoned the Miyun Guard, leading the team here himself. Yunzhong, your great uncle has been really worried about you!"
"Grandfather!" Yuan Yunzhong hurriedly stepped forward to greet him and looked Master Jinghu up and down with a sense of apology, "All this trouble is caused by my impulsiveness, making my grandfather worry at his advanced age!"
"Good child, I’m relieved you’re safe!" Master Jinghu said, supporting Yuan Yunzhong, and with concern, he added, "I rushed over six hundred miles without delay, but I was still a step too late. By the time I arrived, you had already turned back to Shijingshan. It must be the merit of these two commanders, right?"
He spoke sincerely, but as soon as he raised his head and saw Song Jiyun standing leisurely behind Yuan Yunzhong, he was surprised and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Master Jinghu!" Of course, Song Jiyun would not miss this opportunity, and greeted him warmly with a smile, "You’ve not come too late. My people were in trouble and couldn’t get away, but fortunately, you led the Miyun Guard, allowing them to instead go after Lord Yuan who had set off to Shijingshan ahead of us, and they managed to rescue Lord Yuan from another ambush by the Ministry of War. To be honest, without Master Jinghu, we would have been in grave danger!"
After she finished speaking, she also gave Master Jinghu a bow.
"Is that so?" Master Jinghu smiled and said, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes, revealing a hint of coldness and distance.
However, Yuan Yunzhong, who always trusted his grandfather, didn’t notice it at all and looked at Song Jiyun affectionately, saying passionately, "Miss Song’s rescue was a great fortune to us this time!"
He told Master Jinghu about the danger he faced and how Song Jiyun had accompanied him, and introduced the middle-aged man supporting Master Jinghu, "This is my cousin, his surname is Wang, given name Zi, styled Liqin. He currently serves at the Honglu Temple."
Wang Zi glanced at Master Jinghu, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded at Song Jiyun.
It seemed he was someone in the know.
Song Jiyun smiled faintly and addressed him as "Lord Wang."
Commander Wang had heard before that Yuan Yunzhong had upset his family over marrying a merchant’s daughter as his wife. He previously thought Yuan Yunzhong was simply overindulgent. But when he learned that the person who came to their rescue was that merchant’s daughter, he immediately changed his mind about the situation and even felt that Yuan Yunzhong had made the right decision.
He felt the Wang Family were not very enthusiastic toward Song Jiyun, and after some thought, decided to repay the favor to Song Jiyun, thus he also followed, saying, "Elder sir, Lord Yuan is right. Our escape was indeed thanks to Miss Song."
He then eagerly started praising Song Jiyun.
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